8 Lessons in Mobile App Marketing You Can Learn from Your Competitors

It is true that in the modern world of technologies websites are not enough. Thus, almost every business needs a mobile application. Mobile marketers know that before they start launching new strategies to promote products, they need to be aware of the market trends and study their competitors carefully. Skipping this important step can result in a major flop for your marketing campaign. Some inexperienced marketers perform a basic audit downloading a couple of similar mobile applications and testing them. However, it doesn’t always suffice since this kind of analysis rarely includes a deep research of design, security, and more importantly – monetizing strategy. Also, they often overlook the importance to analyze the audience and approaches that bring positive user experience.

Some marketers who lack experience in analyzing competitors’ applications overlook crucial details and therefore fail to learn more about their own product’s performance and ways to improve it. Well, due to the fact that mobile apps are the future of online product marketing, one has to know where to start to perform an efficient audit. In today’s article, we will take a closer look at some important lessons your competitors can teach you about your own mobile app and ways to learn from them.

Lesson #1: Take a look at different products and define your brand

After you have done a basic research and found out who your main competitors are, you have to focus on their target audience and the main function of the application. Of course, every mobile app has a number of different functions and features, but there is always a key one. And you need to take it into account. For instance, you have developed a mobile app which helps users edit their photos quickly. Now think about people who need your app and why. Maybe, your target audience is teenagers who love pretty filters and funny frames? Or your aim is to attract professional photographers who look for fast ways to edit their photos?

When you analyze the target audiences of your competitors, you will see that some apps are very similar in concept, but still, are aimed at different users. This will help you define your own target audience and develop your brand.

Lesson #2: Look different than your competitors

No matter what kind of application you have there, it surely has a lot of elements similar to the other applications of that kind. Very often this makes your potential customers confused since they don’t see any difference between the similar products, which means you need to convince them that your product is worthy of their attention more than any other. At this point, you need to give them a small push towards your product using some visual elements.

It is important for a mobile marketer to analyze the visual aspect of the competing apps and create something really unique. Be sure to pay a fair share of attention to the way your app looks from the very first click.

Lesson #3: Build additional features to benefit from the word-of-mouth

According to statistics offered by Nielsen, 84% of customers claim that they trust recommendations they receive from their friends, family, and colleagues about services and products more than those they receive from the brand itself, which makes the first source of information the most credible.

This is what marketers call social proof, and it really is a powerful tool for your product promotion. The best way to make your customers talk about your application is to offer them regular improvements, added features, discounts, and free stuff. Look at any additional features your competitors offer and make sure add one or two to your own app.

Lesson #4: Aim at a better engagement

When having a couple of similar applications before them and having to choose one, users would probably select the one that provides better engagement. For example, there are two popular taxi applications we all know well – Uber and Lyft. Most users prefer Lyft to Uber because it shows off fierce engagement avenue to users. This is a crucial aspect of their business strategy and a reason why Left wins in the competition.

Offering such things as bonuses for sign-up or referral programs attracts more users to your product and ensures that they will choose you instead of your competitor and turn to your service again and again. Performing an audit, make sure to pay attention to strategies your competitors use to draw in more user engagement and come up with your own unique offer.

Lesson #5: Online and offline experience

Creating a marketing plan for your mobile application strategy, make sure to pay attention to both online and offline platforms. Online platform makes it easy for users to share the information about your product via social media and emails. However, offline user experience should not be limited and bring challenges to your customers when they would like to refer a friend to your app or use it at places where they do not have access to the Internet.

Analyze the applications your competitors build and make sure to check whether they have any tie-ups that allow clients use the application offline. Be sure to provide as many such features as possible.

Lesson #6: Find out the main source of competitor’s revenue

To find out the main source of your competitors’ revenue, you have to analyze their monetizing models. You have to track the prices of their products and compare them to the average market prices. If the price is higher than the average, then your task is to find out what additional features make clients pay more (sometimes justification for a high price is impossible to find though).

Your task is to understand what price for a similar product is acceptable for buyers and analyze your competitor’s app to understand how much to charge for your own mobile application. Looking at similar applications’ prices will come in handy for that matter.

Lesson #7: Analyze promotion strategies of your competitors

Find out how your competitors engage with their target audience. Do they have any efficient ways to communicate with their existing and potential customers? Which social media platforms do they use for marketing? In fact, choosing the right social media is crucial for resultant promotion. Think about the main features of your application and make sure to choose the platform that suits these features. For example, if you have an image-editing tool your main target is Instagram or Tumblr, while Facebook is much better for traveling mobile apps.

Analyze the social media strategies your competitors use. This is a good place to find out which promotion strategies are the most effective for similar apps. You have to monitor types of content they share. Content always depends on the kind of services you offer. For example, your competitors might post articles, case studies, and even books related to the business they run. On the other hand, they can also post jokes, funny stories, or beautiful photos as a part of their content marketing strategy. It is effective to find out what type of content is preferred by your competitors’ audience and find out what content efforts competitors apply to attract more customers.

Lesson #8: Check if your competitors are featured by the app review websites

An extremely high number of downloads and clicks for mobile applications occur when they are reviewed by reputable websites. Also, people will trust your service if they see information about it on media resources like press, niche related news, and other media. If your competitors have already reached out to the media to increase the number of downloads – you have to catch up with them.

It takes a quick Google search to find blogs and informational websites which contain articles about your main competitors and their applications. Try to communicate with the editors and ask them for a possibility to promote your application, too. Sometimes convincing bloggers, writers, and platform owners to promote your service is a challenge, but this is an effective strategy when you need people to learn about you, and it is a must when your competitors already have these articles posted. If journalists and writers don’t seem very enthusiastic about promoting your products – learn their main sphere of incentives and offer them something they are interested in.

So how analyzing your competitors’ marketing strategies can help you succeed in your business? If you make a careful audit, learning which content they share via social media platforms and which communication channels they use, what additional features they offer to engage users, how they get revenue and what prices they set for their product and why – you will get a better understanding of how to act and where to focus your best efforts. Beating competitors are easier when you know everything about them. Discovering their target audience’s needs and ways they choose to keep in touch with that audience will help you stay afloat.

Your marketing plan should include a detailed analysis of your competitors’ services and the way they promote them. Learning more about weaknesses and strengths of their products, you will be able to analyze your own one and find ways to improve your strategies in the future. Audit your competitors properly and find useful facts about how to develop your app.

Veronica Hunt is an ed tech expert and experienced blogger from Delaware City, DE. As a blogger, Veronica sees her purpose in providing her readers with up-to-date info in the spheres of marketing, entrepreneurship and psychology. Currently, works for StudentShare blog as a content writer. Apart from work, Veronica adores travelling and yoga.